Capitals Insider: September 6, 2009 - September 12, 2009

Here are Mike Green's comments to reporters from Saturday's media day. What have you learned about how to prepare yourself for the 82-game season and then a long playoff run? It's a long season. You get beat up; you've got to take care of your body. This year I'm well...

What was the best part of your offseason? Everything. Just good rest. Was it a good party in Moscow? Unbelievable party. How long were you back? Three months. Every offseason. Are you glad to be back? It's always nice to come back. I think everybody miss hockey right now and...

Jose Theodore on Saturday said he's facing the "biggest challenge" of his life after losing his two-month old son last month. "It's the best it could be," Theodore said moments after addressing reporters at the podium on Saturday. "It's something new for me. I'm dealing with it the best I...

We'll have a few transcripts of players' interviews with the media from today's first official day of training camp at KCI. To start off, here are Alexander Semin's comments with a thank you to Dmitry Chesnokov for translating. What is the impact of Donald Brashear's departure? It's very bad that...

Michael Nylander has arrived, according to Coach Bruce Boudreau. But how long the veteran will remain in Washington is unclear. Boudreau acknowledged that Nylander and the Caps are actively seeking a deal to send the 36-year-old center to Europe. "I hope it doesn't become a distraction," Boudreau said....

The Caps pulled even at 2 on a second-period goal by 2009 draft pick Cody Eakin, but it was all Philly from there in a physical game marked by tons of penalties. The bottom line was this: The Flyers dressed an older and more experienced lineup Friday afternoon and it...

Holtby will start in goal for the Caps' rookies and will be backed up by Brett "Stretch" Leonhardt. Adam Morrison is starting for the Flyers' rookies. Here are the Caps' lines: Hauswirth-Bouchard-Kugryshev Finely-Eakin-Mitchell Broda-Gustafsson-Dubuc Cassavant-Jasinsky-Bruess The D-parings: Carlson-Miskovic Flemming-Mestery Schmidt-Godfrey Here are some live updates via Twitter: MultiTweetUsers =...

I just left KCI for today's rookie game in Philadelphia, but before heading out I took attendance. I saw Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin walking around; Tomas Fleischmann's car was in the lot; and Milan Jurcina was on the ice with the veterans. So, of course, that leaves Michael Nylander...

This is probably the last you'll hear about the Alex Ovechkin Zamboni-Driving Extravaganza (no promises, though). Here's a video of Dan Steinberg's one-on-one with Ovechkin in New York: Other Odds and Ends * Katie covered the Penguins' visit to D.C. yesterday, as Sidney Crosby and crew hosted a youth clinic...

As part of a media blitz for NHL 2K10, Alex Ovechkin, the video game's coverboy, navigated 6th Avenue in Manhattan on a Zamboni. Our own Dan Steinberg was there with camera in hand (and tweeting device in the other hand) to capture the madness. Video is below, and more on...

Looks like Mt. Rushmore on one side and Russian flag on the other. Tarik says he'll try to get a closer look later. (And yes, we probably need to get him a higher-quality camera.) Update: Here are those closeups:...

Yesterday, Bruce Boudreau dubbed 2009 third-round draft pick Cody Eakin as one of the early surprises in rookie camp. The two-way forward has looked at ease in the workouts so far at this week at KCI, showcasing his natural skating ability and working to be the next young player to...

Ovie on zamboni. [Cross-posted from the D.C. Sports Bog, where there will be plenty more Ovie updates later.] After Alex Ovechkin finished some NHL interviews, he took a break in his Upper West Side hotel room. I then headed down to 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, where a Zamboni...

Ovie with Carrie Milbank. So I'm currently at an Upper West Side hotel, with Caps PR guru Nate Ewell and a couple NHL staffers, waiting for Alex Ovechkin. He'll do some interviews here, then head down 6th Avenue in a zamboni. I'll take pictures, I guess. This here will...

Must be the week before main training camp opens, because the biggest group of veterans (Caps and Bears) was on the ice at KCI this morning for a rigorous informal practice. Afterward, I caught up with Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque and Tom Poti, all of whom made their summer debuts...

Bruce Boudreau just updated the media on Joe Finley's status and named the prospects who have surprised him through the first two days of rookie camp. Here's most of what the coach had to say: *Finley suffered a hip flexor injury on Monday and the team is being cautious. "It...

(Photo by Dan Steinberg) For all of the goalie geeks out there: Here's Semyon Varlamov in his new red, white and blue pads, the ones he plans to wear this season. (He donned Hershey's colors last season.) Varlamov told Tarik a new Capitals-only themed mask is en route from...

Here's a transcript of Semyon Varlamov's media session today. A special thanks to Puck Daddy's Dmitry Chesnokov for interpreting. Q: How much of a help is it to have new goalie coach (Artus Irbe) who can communicate with you in Russian? A: "This is a huge positive for me because...

Joe Finley, the defenseman-turned-winger who was looking good before suffering an injury on Day 1 of rookie camp, is not on the ice today. It's unkown how much time the former first rounder will miss, a team official said. But Finley is able to do off-ice conditioning, so the hip/groin...

I was just clearing out my notebook and recorder from Day 1 of rookie camp and wanted to pass along some additional items of interest: *The hometown for Ryan Jasinsky on the Caps' roster is, in fact, correct. The rugged forward is from Richmond, Va. (not Richmond, B.C.) In fact,...

A few notes from Coach Bruce Boudreau's media scrum: *As I mentioned earlier, Joe Finley left the ice with an injury. Boudreau wouldn't get specific, but it sounds like the 6-7, 245 pound defenseman-turned-winger had something like a groin or hip flexor tighten up. "He said he was feeling something...

Rookie camp just wrapped up, and many of the fans who came out to KCI to watch the youngsters have stuck around for some bonus hockey. Veterans Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn, Brendan Morrison, Mike Knuble, Chris Clark, Mike Green, Matt Bradley, Brian Pothier, Boyd Gordon, Jeff Schultz and David Steckel...

Joe Finley, the former first-round draft pick I wrote about in today's paper, appears to have suffered some sort of a injury on the opening day of rookie camp. Not sure about the nature or severity of the injury, but he has left the ice and is not expected to...

As you may have noticed on the Caps' rookie camp roster that was released last night, Joe Finley, a 6 foot 7, 245-pounder who was drafted as a defenseman, is listed as a forward for rookie camp, which begins Monday at KCI. The team first tried Finley at forward on...

In the words of Alex Ovechkin, "It's good to be Ovie." But as I found out Saturday, it's also good to be Mike Green. As we mentioned here last week, Green's condo and recently acquired 2006 pearl-white Lamborghini Gallardo will be featured on MTV's "Cribs" in an upcoming episode. The...